We’ve only had access to Titanfall in its early beta-test state, but this doesn’t mean we haven’t already uncovered a number of sci-fi first-person shooter’s secrets.

After more than a dozen hours with developer Respawn Entertainment’s hotly anticipated online shooter, we’ve come across a small number of interesting tidbits that even some of the beta’s most avid players might not know about yet. That includes an Easter egg, hacking enemy minions, and more. Publisher Electronic Arts will release Titanfall on March 11 and the beta ends tonight at 6 p.m. Pacific, so you’ll have a few weeks to consider the items below.

Let’s get to it.

Zip lines

Respawn gives players a number of ways to traverse Titanfall’s maps. Pilots can run on walls and double-jump to get from one point to another in seconds. Getting the hang of Titanfall’s movement is one of the most rewarding aspects of the early game. But it doesn’t look like Respawn has burned all of its cards when it comes to ways players can get around levels.

We’re talking about zip lines.

Titanfall keeps track of all your stats as you play. You can see how many pilots you’ve killed or how many shots you’ve fired with the sniper rifle. On the menu screen that breaks down the stats on distance, the game tracks how long players have run on walls as well as how long they’ve traveled by zip line.

The beta only includes two maps, and neither feature any lines, zipped or not, that players can use. This likely means that some of the levels we’ll see in the finished product could include zip lines that may add another layer of complexity to Titanfall’s movement.

I can already see myself wall running onto a zip line and then riding it down on top of an enemy Titan.

This QR code

The people who make games often take from the real world to fill in the details of their digital creations. Titanfall is no different. To add character, one of the environment artists added a QR code to a cardboard box hidden in one of the rooms in the Angel City map.

Check it out:

You can find it in one of the small side rooms on the third floor of the building that houses hardpoint B in the Hardpoint mode on Angel City. The QR code isn’t just decoration. It takes those who scan it using their smartphones to the personal website of one of Titanfall’s environment artists: Modelcitizen.co.

Monsters

Titanfall players won’t just face on-foot troops and large mechanized robots. Gigantic monsters also populate the world of Respawn’s shooter.

The upcoming companion book The Art of Titanfall contains images of some of the beasts players may encounter. These include flying creatures as well as giant, walking animals known as Leviathans. The book confirms that some of the wildlife will get involved in the fight, and they will attack players.

Take a look at one of the Leviathans from the latest ad for Titanfall:

Above: That shadowy giant is a Leviathan from Titanfall’s Boneyard map.

Image Credit: Respawn Entertainment

Hacking Spectres

You can hack enemy Spectres to make them fight alongside you.

Computer-controlled minions come in a few flavors. One of those are the Spectre robots, which have jump packs and cloaking devices. When you come across enemy Spectres, they’re slightly more dangerous than grunts, but you can still take them out with a few quick shots or a kick to the face.

But don’t kill them!

Instead, you should walk up behind an enemy Spectre and hold down X to hack it with your data knife. This will make it follow you. This presents a number of benefits. First, they will create noise when an enemy is trying to kill you but sees a bunch of other targets. Second, any kill that a Spectre gets counts toward your score.

If you see a group of Spectres close to one another, just hack one of them. That will cause the rest to fall under your control thanks to a short-range Wi-Fi hack. The game does this automatically when you use your data knife to get one.

Using a burn card at the start of a match

Titanfall features powerful temporary perks that players can activate by playing one of their burn cards. These give you incredibly fast movement or extra powerful weapons. When you die, the game gives you the option to use change you loadouts and use one of these items, but you don’t have to wait until you die to use a burn card.

As soon as the match starts, after you select your pilot and Titan loadouts, you can hit the Y button on the Xbox One version to immediately choose a burn card. That perk will go into effect as soon as the match begins.

This even includes the rare cards that feature spare Titans. You could start the match with an Atlas mech long before anyone else has one.

Also, the beta features 44 burn cards in total. Check out our gallery below to check if you’ve seen them all in the game:

More information:

Founded in 2010, Respawn Entertainment is an independent video game development studio based in the San Fernando Valley, California that will focus on creating state-of-the-art gaming experiences for global audiences. The studio was fo... read more »

Vince Zampella is the former Chief Executive Officer of Call of Duty creators and developers Infinity Ward. His last known project was Modern Warfare 2 before he subsequently left the studio along with Jason West and many other colleag... read more »